The president said she made the decision in order to improving the quality of the education system of Chile, considered one of the most expensive and unequal in the world. She nevertheless insisted in continuing the work of the previous ministerial team. Before performing as Bachelet's minister of education, Eyzaguirre was the minister of finance of former President Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006), who deepened the country's free-market economy with neoliberal measures. He used to be an international consultant and adviser to the International Monetary Fund in the 1980s. As for Delpiano, she is also known for her personal friendship with Ricardo Lagos and under Bachelet's presidency, she presided over the social cultural national institute. Despite the government's promise that secondary education will be free by 2016, opposition to the reform has not diminished over time, as thousands of students and teachers have marched in recent months in various cities of the country. The latest march, on Thursday, demanded the then education minister Nicolas Eyzaguirre create spaces for debate, as well as more transparency over the details of the reform. Student-union leader Valentina Saavedra called on the ministery to quit the “arrogance” and requested “democratic dialogue.” The professors' union, for instance, has just started its 27th day of indefinite strike, protesting against the fact that payrises will be related to regular assessment of their activities – which risks to promoting individualism and competition among them, they claim. On various occasions, the protests have been violently repressed by the militarized branch of the police (the Gendarmerie), directly or indirectly causing the death of two students in May. (TeleSur)